Gonna Be Somebody
by FearlessBarson1116
Summary: Follow Olivia Benson and Rafael Barba through life's up and downs, graduations and romances, job offers and babies; life can be rough when you're in love with your best friend. Barson and Noah! One shot! Song Fic to Travis Tritt's "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" Enjoy!


**Well, I've officially hopped back on board the writing train for SVU and currently I'm riding the Barson express…I may be one of few but I think that there is undeniable chemistry! Hopefully if you're reading this you also agree that they're adorable together, or at least I can pursued you to at least think they're kind of cute….either way read on fellow SVU junkies. **

**Fair warning, the time line in this is completely nonexistent to the one that the show follows, and also just forgo any information that we know about Olivia and Barba growing up (besides her mother being a drunk). This is a major AU story; the only thing that follows the show will be baby Noah. **

**Story is based off the song: "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" (Travis Tritt), I was forced to delete the lyrics by the site**

**I don't own Law and Order: SVU, it's characters, or anything else that you read about that you might like notice. Nor do I any way own the song or the lyrics. **

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

Six year old Rafael Barba stood at 42 pounds and three feet tall, he was shorter and smaller than the rest of his grade. He stood out on the playground next to his athletic classmates in his pastel shirt, khaki shorts, and bright colored suspenders.

Six year old Olivia Benson was also a standout on the elementary school playground, she stood at three feet five inches tall and 48 pounds. Unlike her other female acquaintances she was dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt with her hair pulled back off her face in a ponytail.

From across the yard she could see three known bullies making their way towards her best friend. "They should know better than that by now," she huffed as she walked towards them.

"Barbie, did your mom pick out your clothes from the girls section?"

Olivia could feel the redness in her cheeks as her anger grew as she draped her arm over Rafael's shoulder, "Problem here Rafi?"

She enjoyed the look of terror on the other boy's faces as they started to run off, "This isn't over_ Rafi._"

He rolled his eyes up to look at Olivia but allowed her to leave her arm wrapped around his neck, "I could have taken care of them Liv,"

She tried not to chuckle, "I know you could, but what good is it to have me as a friend if I don't get to stand up for you."

They walked over to sit on a bench on the far end of the playground, "New suspenders?"

"Yeah, my mom got them for me for my birthday. She told me not to wear them to school, she said I'd get picked on, but I don't care."

"I've always got your back Rafi,"

Running through central park after class was something both friends enjoyed, it usually ended up in a 'loser buys the coffee' race; and as usual Olivia reached the other end of the park a whole five minutes before Rafael.

Walking on into the shop she smiled at the elderly lady behind the counter, "Good afternoon Nancy,"

"Afternoon sweetheart," she handed the cup over to the young brunet while laughing, "Shall I wait to ring it up?" Olivia grinned at her as she sat down at their usual table.

Nancy had become like a grandmother to both the high school students and they never failed to make her laugh. Hearing the bell ding, she picked up the cup of plain black coffee and handed it to an exhausted looking Rafael, "Here ya go honey," he handed her a five dollar bill and thanked her with a smile.

"You'll catch her one day,"

"Yes, when we're both dead." She winked at him as she went back to work.

As they sat in the coffee shop they both looked out the window comfortable in the silence before Rafael spoke up, "Mrs. Haynes pulled me out of class today."

"Guidance counselor Mrs. Haynes? What did she want?"

"College, apparently they think I have potential…."

She smirked at him as she answered him sarcasm dripping in her voice, "Who would have thought that the valedictorian would have potential?"

Throwing a straw paper ball at her he tried to put on a serious face, "Seriously Liv, they think I could get a scholarship somewhere; maybe even get out of here."

Her face softened, they both knew the day was coming that they would have to split up the bond they'd had since elementary school, but she was nowhere near ready to lose her best friend.

Putting on a sad smile she asked, "So Mr. Smarty Pants, what _do_ you want to do for the rest of your life?"

He thought about it before answering, knowing she would support him no matter what, "I want to help change the world Liv…"

Her smile grew as she picked up their trash and tossing it in the can on their way out before waving goodbye to Nancy, "Well come on then the first one back through the park gets to be Batman?"

He rolled his eyes but took off out the door after her, what was another two and a half miles?

"Rafi!" He looked up to see his best friend running towards him, he barely had time to open his arms before she ran into him.

As she let him go she picked up the medal hanging around his neck, "I knew you could do it."

His smile beamed at his valedictorian medal, "I couldn't have done it without you."

"All I did was keep you out of trouble when you ran your mouth…which was a lot. But you did it you're getting out of here; you're going to Harvard!"

"No, we did it. You graduated too. And I'm going to be a whole four hours away from you at the academy."

Linking their arms they continued to walk down their street towards their café, "But you're going to do what you've always wanted Rafi, you're going to change the world."

"No Liv, we're going to change it together."

It was six in the morning and Olivia Benson laid in her bed, staring at celling; she had been awake since three and knew there was no way she was going back to sleep. This was her big day, she was finally getting her detective shield.

She rolled over for what felt like the 1,000th time since she had woken up, but this time her bedside picture caught her attention. It had been a little over four years ago, Nancy had taken it the night she and Rafael had graduated from high school. His valedictorian medal was glistening as the sun went down in central park with their arms wrapped around each other and 100 watt smiles.

Throwing her legs over the bed she picked up the picture, gently running her fingers of it. They hadn't seen each other in a year. She had gone to see him graduate with his Bachelor degree last spring and they texted at least once a day; but between her work schedule and his law school class schedule they could never get together. She missed him more than she was willing to admit.

After she showered and made sure her uniform was straight, she sat waiting for her coffee to finish.

Olivia picked her phone up off the table and smiled at the name on the caller ID, "Good Morning,"

Rafael stifled a yawn, "Hey, it is a wonderful morning for you."

"Have you been awake all night?" she asked her voice laced with concern

"Yes, and I'm guessing so have you?"

"Only since three, Rafi you need to sleep."

"I know Liv, I've got a test in my first class then I'll take a nap. Though, I wish I could be there for you. I'm so proud of you Olivia, you're doing what we always said we always said we would."

"And you're going to do it too! Just another year and you'll be trying all the bad guys I bring it."

He couldn't help but smile at her reassurance, "Oh how I miss you."

"I miss you too Rafi, now go ace that test!"

His smile could be heard through the phone, "Goodbye Detective Benson."

Rafael Barba sat in his desk chair, clearly nothing else was going to get done today. Nothing had gotten done for almost a week now. His mind was everywhere but the case he was working on, actually he knew exactly where his mind was; his best friend, Olivia Benson.

It had taken him almost twenty five years but he had finally come to the realization that he loved her, no; he was in love with her. And if he was ever going to get anything accomplished again, he needed to tell her. He needed her to know.

Tonight was their weekly dinner, and tonight he was going to tell her.

His phone ringing drew him out of his trance, "Hello,"

"Mr. Barba, this is Peter Andrews from the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in Boston."

"Yes sir, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you. My friends we're rather impressed with your interview last week; they say you seemed very determined and they were also impressed by your resume."

"Thank you sir, I'm glad to hear that."

"I want to offer you the job as our assistant district attorney. I'm faxing you more information right now. You would do well here Mr. Barba, I look forward to hearing from you."

Dropping his phone on the desk, his head soon followed. That was his dream job, once again four hours from Olivia. It was now or never.

_Two hours later:_

Rafael Barba threw back his scotch as he watched the door; he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when she walked in.

"Hey Good lookin'," she kissed his cheek

"Hey, you. Ready for dinner?"

"Of course,"

He pushed in her chair as she sat down, "What's that smile for? Did you shoot some asshole today?"

Her laughter made the room ten times brighter for him, "No, but I do have something to tell you."

He didn't think it was possible for her smile to get any bigger as she said, "Wait right here, I'll be right back."

Rafael threw sipped his second drink of the night, his speech running through his head perfecting every detail.

Her voice knocked him out of his trance, "I have someone I want you to meet," his eyes met hers, then they trailed down to the hand she held at her side, "This is Brian Cassidy, he's my boyfriend."

He was sure the breath had been knocked out of him, there was no way this was happening now. Gathering enough air to mumble, "If you'll excuse me," before he walked out of the restaurant.

He could hear her call him from behind but he knew there was no way he could face her right now, if ever again. Once he finally made it outside he felt as though he could breathe. Now he was absolutely sure what he needed to do, grabbing his phone from his pants pocket he quickly bypassed Olivia's text message to find his recent calls before clicking on the one he was looking for.

"Mr. Andrews this is Rafael Barba, I apologize for the time but I wanted to let you know that I would be happy to accept your job offer; and I look forward to working with you. Thank you and have a good evening."

Pulling himself together he hailed a cab and held back his tears, because Rafael Barba did not cry.

"…_Bobby played his hometown, one full moon August night when he heard a voice in the front row singing, it was a sandy haired river boy with the same ol' hungry eyes, he looked Bobby and said…"_

Some days Olivia Benson would swear she was seventy instead of pushing forty. Those were the days like today where she had had six cups of coffee, a migraine from hell, and spent her lunch break in the crib.

Hearing a knock on the door she pulled the pillow over her head, hoping they would just go away, "Hey Liv, Cragen wants us in his office to brief the new D.A."

Hearing Fin close the door she debated if that was worth getting up for they hadn't had a stable attorney in years and this one would just be gone after a couple cases. But she knew if she didn't go to them, they would bring the meeting to her.

Reattaching her badge, Olivia ran her fingers through her hair trying to make herself look presentable before entering her captain's office, "Sorry I'm late,"

Looking up she felt as though the breath had been knocked out of her. This was no ordinary district attorney, "Rafael,"

"Olivia, I um….I didn't know."

Sensing the awkwardness in the room Cragen spoke up, "I'm guessing you two already know each other?"

"You could say that, we grew up together..."

Barba finished her sentence for her, "We were best friends,"

"Well, we will just let you two get reacquainted." Don, Fin, and John left the room leaving the two ex-best friends alone.

"Liv, I'm…"

But before he could finish she cut him off, "Liv nothing. You have no right to call me Liv anymore. You walked out on me Rafael. You were the one relationship I had in my life that I had no doubt would last forever, until the night you walked out of that restaurant and never came back. No explanation. No nothing."

"I can explain now, please."

"Now. Now, ten years later?"

"Yes, if you'll let me."

"I shouldn't…" her arms still folded across her chest, not even caring about the tears that flowed down her face, though she didn't know if they were from anger at him for all those years ago or the happiness of seeing him again.

"I had a whole speech planned out, it had taken me almost twenty five years but I was ready to admit what I had known since the day that you stood for me on the playground in elementary school. I was going to tell you that I was in love you. Then when you brought in your boyfriend, I didn't know what to do." He pulled his handkerchief from his breast pocket before he continued, "Earlier that day I had been offered a job with the D.A.'s office in Boston and I called and accepted the job offer before I even made it back to my apartment; then in less than two days I had quit my job, moved out of my apartment, and was on my way to Massachusetts."

"You ran away because you were in love with me?"

"Yes, I thought it was best at the time."

Trying to refrain from slapping him she simply closed her eyes, "I've spent some of the hardest years of my life without my best friend. Worried about what ever happened to you, if you were okay…I've spent years thinking you were dead, because I just knew that there was no way that you would leave me out of nowhere. Not after everything we had been through."

"I'm sorry Olivia, you have no idea how sorry I am and how much I've missed you. I check the news in New York everyday praying that I don't see your name saying that something has happened to you. I guess it's true that love makes you do stupid things."

"Sure as hell turned you into an idiot."

She watched tears fall from his face, "Rafael, why didn't you just tell me that you were in love with me?"

"That night when you walked into the restaurant you had the biggest smile on your face, it lit up the room. I knew you were happy with him. I couldn't take that away from you."

Sitting down beside him she reached over and took his hand, she knew that only part of her was angry at him for running away and that the other part was angry at herself for spending ninety percent of her life denying that she was in love with Rafael Barba.

She smirked at him, "If it makes you feel any better he turned out to be an asshole."

He chuckled as he tightened the grip on her hand, "Olivia, I'm so sorry for everything. I'm sure after all these years you've got a life built here without me in it, but I'm not sure I can live without our friendship anymore."

"I thought you loved me?"

"I'll always love you."

Wrapping her arms around him startled him but he was overly grateful to see her again; he wouldn't have cared if she would have slapped him, "Then it's a good thing I've spent the last ten years miserable and coming to the conclusion that I can't live without you either."

Looking in through the window stood the other three men in Olivia's life, "Has anyone ever seen her smile like that?"

Cragen smiled back at Munch as he answered, "I don't know who he is, but I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon."

The coldness of the bed woke Rafael Barba, he was no longer used to sleeping alone and had gotten used to having the warmth of his girlfriend next to him over the last year. Throwing a tee shirt over his head he went in search of his lover and wasn't the least bit surprised where he found her.

"When did he wake up?"

She looked up at him her bangs falling in her face, "About fifteen minutes, he's fighting it as hard as he can."

Barba locked eyes with the toddler as he walked across the room, "Mi hijo, se le problemas?"

He gently picked up the young boy, cradling him in his arms as his eyes began to close; content in his father's arms, "Ahora mi sueno Noah."

A few minutes later the assistant district attorney laid his son in his crib before feeling his girlfriend wrap her arms around him, "We're actually pretty good at this parent thing Liv,"

"I never doubted you for a second,"

She could feel his eyes roll in to the back of his head, "We may not be able to change the world completely, but at least we can change his world."

As he brushed the hair off of Noah's sleeping form, he thought about all the dreams he had for his son, "You're going to be somebody someday, little man."

As he kissed her forehead, she could feel him smile, "Thank you for all of this Rafi."

"Never thank me for love. Now back to bed mi Hermosa."

**Barba's conversation with Noah translation:**

**Mi hijo, se le problemas: My son, are you being trouble**

**Ahora mi sueno Noah: Now dream, my Noah**

**Barba's conversation with Olivia:**

**Mi Hermosa: My Beautiful **

**And it's finished! Hope you all enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed dabbing into the Barson universe and look forward to doing it again. Reviews are gold! XO**


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